Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Herta Mueller wins Nobel Prize for literature
The Swedish Academy, which awards the $1.4 million prize, honored Mueller, 56, for work that, "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."
Before immigrating to Germany in 1987, Mueller received death threats in Romania after refusing to become an informant for its secret police when it was still a communist dictatorship.
Several of her novels that have been translated into English — including The Passport, The Land of Green Plums and Traveling on One Leg— explore life in a dictatorship and as a member of a minority.
Mueller's parents were members of the German-speaking minority in Romania. Her father served in the Waffen SS during World War II.
After the war, many German Romanians were deported to the Soviet Union in 1945, including her mother, who spent five years in a work camp in what is now Ukraine.
The last American to win the Nobel Prize in literature was Toni Morrison in 1993. Mueller is the 12th woman to win the prize in its 108 years.
NATIONAL INFORMATION LITERACY AWARENESS MONTH, 2009
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information. A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio networks, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have challenged our long-held perceptions of information management. Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation. This new type of literacy also requires competency with communication
technologies, including computers and mobile devices that can help in our day-to-day decisionmaking. National Information Literacy Awareness Month highlights the need for all Americans to be adept in the skills necessary to effectively navigate the Information Age. To read more click this link
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Free University Classes Online
- MIT Open Courseware: free videos of lectures, lecture notes, and exams in dozens of disciplines
- University of California – Berkeley: webcasts of lectures for a couple dozen classes
- Stanford University’s iTunes U: dozens of classes of free lectures, through the popular “iTunes U,” used by other universities too
- Harvard@home: a selection of lectures, events, and talks at Harvard
- Open Yale Courses: a few dozen classes’ worth of free lectures
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Hugo Awards
Best Novella: ''The Erdmann Nexus'' by Nancy Kress (Asimov's Oct/Nov 2008)
Best Novelette: ''Shoggoths in Bloom'' by Elizabeth Bear (Asimov's Mar 2008)
Best Short Story: ''Exhalation'' by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
John W. Campbell not-a-Hugo Award for Best New Writer: David Anthony Durham
Best Related Book: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)
Best Graphic Story: Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones Written by Kaja & Phil Foglio, art by Phil Foglio, colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: WALL-E Andrew Stanton & Pete Docter, story; Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon, screenplay; Andrew Stanton, director (Pixar/Walt Disney)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog Joss Whedon, & Zack Whedon, & Jed Whedon, & Maurissa Tancharoen, writers; Joss Whedon, director (Mutant Enemy)
Best Editor, Short Form: Ellen Datlow
Best Editor, Long Form: David G. Hartwell
Best Professional Artist: Donato Giancola
Best Semiprozine: Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal
Best Fan Writer: Cheryl Morgan
Best Fanzine: Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
Best Fan Artist: Frank Wu
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Emergency Notifications - Star Alert System
Did You Know?
QUESTION: If there's a campus emergency, how will you know?
ANSWER: Star Alert, an emergency notification system that sends you an e-mail and a text message.
But, first you have to sign up for the free service.
Star Alert messages briefly note the nature of the emergency, what action, if any, should be taken, and where to find additional information. Multiple numbers and addresses can be registered, including those of parents or others a registrant would want notified. Star Alert is one of several ways students and employees might be notified of a campus emergency. Depending on the nature and severity of the emergency, notification methods could include:
Alerts on the M State Web site
E-mail message to SpartanNet addresses
Voicemail message on campus phones
Flyers posted on building doors
Loud tone and message on the outdoor chimes/music system
Message on closed-circuit televisions
250+ Killer Digital Libraries and Archives
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The 2008 Stoker Winners
Novel: Duma Key by Stephen King
First Novel: The Gentling Box by Lisa Mannetti
Long Fiction: Miranda by John R. Little
Short Fiction: "The Lost" by Sarah Langan
Fiction Collection: Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Anthology: Unspeakable Horror edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder
Nonfiction: A Halloween Anthology by Lisa Morton
Poetry Collection: The Nightmare Collection by Bruce Boston
Lifetime Achievement: F. Paul Wilson and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Cool site of the day (for me anyways)
Cool site of the day (for me anyways) A project devoted to discovering all the words and everything about them:http://www.wordnik.com/
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The 50 States Project
The 50 States Project has brought together 50 photographers from across the USA.
Each photographer lives in one of the 50 States and during the year long project each photographer will represent the State where they live. Every two months each photographer will be sent an assignment by e-mail, they then have two months to produce one image in response. The images must represent both their style and the State in which they live.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The World Digital Library will launch on April 21, 2009.
The World Digital Library will launch on April 21, 2009.
The World Digital Library will make available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from cultures around the world, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other significant cultural materials. The objectives of the World Digital Library are to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and awareness, provide resources to educators, expand non-English and non-Western content on the Internet, and to contribute to scholarly research.
http://www.worlddigitallibrary.org/project/english/docs/World_Digital_Library_Demonstration.pdf
Thursday, April 9, 2009
From the Boston Globe
Here are some interesting pictures of the flooding in Fargo/Moorhead from the Boston Globe " The Big Picture"
Website about bookmarks
Features an exhibit of "outstanding bookmarks from 1850s up to now with over 150 images" (with topics such as Victorian, bookstores, religious, heroes, handmade, museum, and French advertising), history of bookmarks, bookmark quotes, and related material on interesting bookstores, libraries, and other topics. From a Swiss company that sells metal bookmarks.
From our friends at Librarians' Internet Index
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tax Season
Federal Tax information and forms: http://www.irs.gov/
Minnesota Tax information and forms: http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/
North Dakota Tax information and forms:http://www.nd.gov/tax/
All State government Web sites :http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99021,00.html
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Time, "A Rural Exodus"
It's an interesting piece of local news that has gained national attention.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Announcing the M State Video Awards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sMOxXMtX0s
Friday, January 23, 2009
WhiteHouse.gov is on the job on day one
WhiteHouse.gov is on the job on day one. The 'first blogger' writes:
"Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.
A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.
Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.
To Learn more follow this link http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/change_has_come_to_whitehouse-gov/
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Campus and Library closings this evening
The Moorhead Campus Library will be closing at 8:00pm due to cold weather conditions.
Stay warm and stay safe!
How To Send Email To Any Cell Phone (for Free)
Here is the link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/email-to-sms/
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 80th Birthday Celebration
Website for the celebration of "the 80th anniversary [January 15, 2009] of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., renowned civil rights leader and tireless advocate for equal opportunity." Includes links to selected "test your knowledge" pages and other online resources about Dr. King, a place to share thoughts about Dr. King's legacy, and details about anniversary events (in San Jose, California). From San Jose Public Libraries and San Jose State University Library.
URL: http://www.sjlibrary.org/about/events/birthday.htm